[While Hurricane Katrina's impact on people remains a] national and international trauma, ... the animal situation is another massive saga that's still unfolding.

The hurricane does have some national impact.

We were on the ground Tuesday, the day after the hurricane hit, but we were excluded from going in by state and federal authorities for the first several days. We've received 2,000 e-mails and phone calls from people who evacuated from New Orleans, who left animals in their homes and are pleading with us to rescue them. That's just in New Orleans. It doesn't count surrounding areas.

You think you're getting the best of the best. What you're getting is oftentimes a very sick animal with genetic defects who came from a puppy mill.

There were millions of Americans focused on animal welfare issues in the wake of the disaster, and we also know the bungled federal response to the animal crisis undermined the effectiveness of the human rescue mission.

The evacuation of New Orleans doomed these animals to a fate of dehydration and starvation. We rescued people, but we left their pets behind to die. Amazingly, we are finding more alive every day, but after three weeks we are hitting the critical hour.